Cliffhangers and Cryptograms: The Unsolved Mystery Quiz

Unsolved mysteries appeal to our curious side, leaving us hoping that maybe we can be the one to finally crack the code, find the killer or track down some priceless artifact -- Holy Grail, anyone? Ready to test your knowledge of all things unresolved? Put on your sleuthing hat and take our unsolved mystery quiz!

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Question 1 of 20

What is the name of the mysterious statue that sits outside the CIA headquarters in Washington D.C.?

Mythos

Santos

Kryptos

Installed in 1991, Kryptos features four panels covered in code. The cryptic fourth panel has yet to be deciphered -- despite the fact that some of the world's best code breakers pass by it everyday.

Question 2 of 20

In 1959, nine skiers met their mysterious end in these Russian mountains.

Ural Mountains

Nine skiers were found dead in the Ural Mountains in 1959, an event known as the Dyatlov Pass Incident. Their tents were ripped open from the inside, and some suffered strange injuries. While some speculate that they were surprised by an avalanche, others pose more sinister explanations.

Crimean Mountains

Altai Mountains

Question 3 of 20

True or False? In 1940, searchers found the skeletal remains of a woman near the spot where Amelia Earhart may have disappeared.

true

Searchers found a female skeleton on Nikumaroro in 1940. The bones were sent to Fiji for testing but were eventually lost, never to resurface, leaving the mystery of her fate still unresolved.

false

Question 4 of 20

In 1941, the Nazis stole a priceless room made of this material.

gold

amber

The Nazis snatched the legendary Amber Room from outside of St. Petersburg in 1941. Some speculate that it was destroyed in the war, while others believe it still lies hidden in some long-forgotten bunker.

silver

Question 5 of 20

What phrase provides the only clue to a mysterious corpse found in Australia in December 1948?

Taman Shud

Police near Adelaide found the body of a man in 1948. He carried no wallet and has yet to be identified. A scrap of paper in his pocket serves as the only clue to his identity, and features the phrase "Taman Shud," Persian for "It ended."

Abandon Hope

He Has Risen

Question 6 of 20

Who committed the only unsolved skyjacking in U.S. history?

Jimmy Hoffa

D.B. Cooper

In 1971, D.B. Cooper demanded $200,000 and a pair of parachutes while on board a Northwest Airlines flight. He jumped out of the plane somewhere over the northwest U.S., never to be seen again. Though Cooper was never identified, scraps of the ransom money washed up in an Oregon river.

Al Capone

Question 7 of 20

Where can you find the Oak Island Money Pit?

Vancouver

Manitoba

Nova Scotia

Since 1795, people have sought the fortune supposedly hidden beneath the ground on Oak Island in Nova Scotia. While some speculate that the hole contains pirate treasure or the Holy Grail, others believe it's simply a natural sinkhole containing nothing more exciting than dirt.

Question 8 of 20

What yet-to-be-deciphered language was used on Easter Island around the late 18th or early 19th century?

Rongorongo

The Rapanui of Easter Island carved Rongorongo onto wooden tablets, but no one living on the island was able to decipher the language by 1860. Fun fact: Rongorongo alternates directions, so you must turn the tablet upside down after every line -- if you could actually read it, that is.

Indus

Linear A

Question 9 of 20

Some point to a series of these out-of-place artifacts in China as proof that aliens have visited the Earth.

stars

pyramids

metal pipes

A cave in China contains a set of mysterious metal pipes, some more than a foot in diameter, which date back 140,000 years or more. Could the Baigong pipes serve as signs of extraterrestrial life or simply ironstone fossils that formed around long-dead trees?

Question 10 of 20

What did the lost colony of Roanoke leave behind when they disappeared around 1587?

a map

signs of a bloody battle

a single word carved in a tree

The so-called lost colony left beyond a single word, Croatoan, carved into a tree. Did they fall victim to disease or violence -- or simply move in with the nearby Croatoan tribe that lived nearby?

Question 11 of 20

What was the real name of the Black Dahlia?

Mary Ann Nichols

Elizabeth Short

Elizabeth Short was struggling to find work in film when she was murdered in Los Angeles in 1947. Her case remains one of the oldest unsolved murders in L.A. to this day.

Ann Franklin

Question 12 of 20

Where can the mysterious code OUOSVAVV be found?

Shepard's Monument, Stafford, England

This strange series of letters can be found at Shepard's Monument in Stafford, England. It's featured in "The Da Vinci Code," and some speculate it contains clues to the location of the Holy Grail.

Georgia Guidestones, Atlanta, Georgia

Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England

Question 13 of 20

Which institution holds the Voynich manuscript, a bizarre medieval text that has yet to be deciphered?

Yale University

You can find this puzzling 240-page text at Yale University. It contains elaborate illustrations and coded text. A high-resolution copy can be found on Yale's website if you'd like to take a crack at decoding it.

Library of Congress

the Vatican

Question 14 of 20

Which U.S. state contains a series of 20-foot high slabs of granite inscribed with some peculiar rules for humanity?

California

Nevada

Georgia

Known as "America's Stonehenge," the Georgia Guidestones contain some bizarre advice, including limiting the global population to less than half a billion. No one knows who commissioned the stones, and theories suggest everyone from the Illuminati to a satanic cult could be responsible.

Question 15 of 20

How many victims did Jack the Ripper claim in 1888?

5

Despite the fact that he claimed just 5 or 6 victims -- hardly prolific for a serial killer -- the case of Jack the Ripper continues to draw interest around the globe.

12

dozens

Question 16 of 20

Who was Mary Celeste?

a code breaker

a ship

The vessel Mary Celeste was found floating at sea in 1872, her cargo intact, but her crew gone without a trace. To this day, no one knows what happened to the people onboard, or why they abandoned ship.

a serial killer

Question 17 of 20

The Beale Ciphers allegedly contain clues to the location of a treasure buried in this U.S. state.

Massachusetts

Virginia

In the late 19th century, Thomas Jefferson Beale left a series of ciphers with a Virginia innkeeper. The yet-to-be-cracked code supposedly contains directions to a fortune in gold and silver hidden in Bedford County, Virginia.

Texas

Question 18 of 20

What is UVB-76?

a radio station

Short wave radio station UVB-76 has broadcast series of beeps and buzzes from somewhere in Russia since the early '80s. Every few weeks, the transmission is interrupted by a creepy voice reading out a list of names.

a boat

an alien spaceship

Question 19 of 20

What former teamster president mysteriously disappeared in 1975 after meeting a union boss (with alleged mob connections) for lunch?

Jimmy Hoffa

Jimmy Hoffa likely met his end after that fateful meeting, but to this date, no one has managed to find his body.

Roy Lee Williams

Frank Fitzsimmons

Question 20 of 20

What name is used to describe a supposed signal from space that reached the Earth in 1977?

Bloop

Wow

The Wow signal got its name when scientist Jerry Ehman jotted his impressions of the sound on the paper output from the radio telescope he was manning at the time. The bizarre noise lasted 72 seconds and has never been repeated.